Tennis Courts - cost of a personal court

tennisdad65

Hall of Fame
After seeing this thread, I am just curious... How much does the average racquet club member (entire family) spend on court fees/membership/transportation over a lifetime? (playing 3-4 hours a week, for 25-35 years? Anyone have numbers from your own personal experience? Is the cost of building your own court an investment that could actually save you money in the long run?

so your own court (build + maintain) vs. a lifetime of club fees/court time/transportation? Which is higher?

I play at public courts which has stadium seating and a club like atmosphere. ~100-200 guys have yearly membership and it is easy to pick up a match. Last year I paid $150 for the year. Kids under 18 are free. This year, my total may be $300 for the year. Transportation is expensive (about $500) since I live about 10 miles away. So about $800 totally a year, or $15K over 20 years.

Playing at public courts is still cheaper than building a court, and you cannot put a $$ amount on the club like atmosphere. I have 6-8 high school and public courts, which are free, and within a mile of me, but I choose to go to these courts which are 10 miles away. Atmosphere is very important.

On the other hand, private tennis club memberships are typically $250 per person per month and about $300-350 per family per month.. so totally 3000-4000 per year or more. Here the total costs are comparable over the years.
 
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AlexDK09

Guest
After seeing this thread, I am just curious... How much does the average racquet club member (entire family) spend on court fees/membership/transportation over a lifetime? (playing 3-4 hours a week, for 25-35 years? Anyone have numbers from your own personal experience? Is the cost of building your own court an investment that could actually save you money in the long run?

so your own court (build + maintain) vs. a lifetime of club fees/court time/transportation? Which is higher?

Membership fee: About $100
Transportation: $0 (I go by bike:, maybe costs for food as fuel :D)

For me building a court won't save me any money.
 
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Parker512

Guest
I have a huge long chiken cupe in my backyard use to be a chicken farm where 30 workers worked. dimensions like 30ft wide and long as 300ft. Cement floor nice and smooth sort of. Do you think i could paint lines put up a net and have a ball machine on the other side feeding me balls or my tennis partner. roof is like 8ft and sinking oh the roof we think might leak.
 

tennisdad65

Hall of Fame
I have a huge long chiken cupe in my backyard use to be a chicken farm where 30 workers worked. dimensions like 30ft wide and long as 300ft. Cement floor nice and smooth sort of. Do you think i could paint lines put up a net and have a ball machine on the other side feeding me balls or my tennis partner. roof is like 8ft and sinking oh the roof we think might leak.

I think it is too narrow (singles 27 ft and doubles 36 ft). If it were 50 ft wide , you could squeeze in 3 tennis courts, start up an indoor club, and make money :)
 

polski

Semi-Pro
I have a huge long chiken cupe in my backyard use to be a chicken farm where 30 workers worked. dimensions like 30ft wide and long as 300ft. Cement floor nice and smooth sort of. Do you think i could paint lines put up a net and have a ball machine on the other side feeding me balls or my tennis partner. roof is like 8ft and sinking oh the roof we think might leak.

That would work. It's too narrow to play a regulation match on, but sounds great for practicing.

You won't have much room to swing with that low of a ceiling height, but no reason you can't have a machine feeding you groundstrokes.

The floor might not bounce as "true" as a hard court since the floor is so smooth, but if you put enough topspin on the ball machine, it could jump the ball up to you.
 

cmb

Semi-Pro
Back in the 'old days', when my mother was growing up in Queensland, despite a serious lack of funds, it seemed as though every other property had a tennis court. All it required was a bit of ingenuity, some hard work and a willingness to take functionality over aesthetics. I see no reason why you couldn't do the same today.

The process they followed was simple. They selected a suitable bit of land, mowed it and then rolled it. As they didn't have a proper roller (some people were able to borrow one from the local cricket club) they apparently used a large petrol drum filled with water. So, as they rolled the court they were also watering it. Fences were made out of chicken wire (still available and very cheap). Nets were made out of whatever they could find and, in one case, an old fence that had been cut down to size was used. I guess they used lime to mark the court.

Mainly they used dirt courts (it being very hot year round in Queensland) but the process was similar. Find a suitable spot, strip it, roll it, mark it and play.

Yes, the bounces wouldn't have been perfect but who cares? I'm sure most of us have, at one time or another, played on courts where the surface hadn't been laid properly, that were cracked or maybe even on a bit of an angle BUT we put up with it because we were just happy to be playing tennis.



If you're interested in the Classic Clay, have a read of equinox's opinion in this thread (post #26) http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?p=626324&highlight=classic#post626324

As he plays mainly on en tous cart (Australian dirt courts), he has a very good base of comparison.


I was thinking of doing something similar to this. My parents are considering buying a house with some acreage on it. I was considering basically digging it out 3-5 inches and filling it with material for the baseball infield, and then rolling it out and then adding a little bit of clay on the surface.

obviously it wont look like a professional hartrue court. but if it functions and bounces reasonably, im up for it. me and my brothers would do the labor on it.

I read somewhere that a baseball infield could be done for like 2 to 5k.

but if its cheaper I would be up for a "dirt" court too
 

PeterPanda

Semi-Pro
If i had a level peice of land and pored concrete down and then just put a net up and painted lines would that be okay.
 

autumn_leaf

Hall of Fame
having a personal tennis court, bet that's a personal dream/goal for many of us on this board.

i would love to have a clay one for indoors, not outdoors. i hate it when weather or daylight gets in the way. roof would be like plastic though to let in sunlight.

anyone know how much that would cost? either way i'm assuming i need to be fairly rich to get enough land for this project... like the other poster, maybe in 15-20 years lol.
 

Alistair23

New User
I've been thinking about constructing an indoor tennis court for a little while now, because of the sheer lack of facilities in my area.

It will cost a lot. I'm guessing here in the UK, an indoor court with a hard surface will cost in the region of £70,000 - £100,000.

In terms of building an outdoor court, it isn't as difficult or as costly.

1. Firstly you would have to find suitable flat land. By suitable I mean doesn't go all over the place and isn't surrounded by trees and plants (because of the roots). Space is key here folks.

2. Once suitable land has been found, and remember it must be away from trees especially, you need to measure out the exact dimensions of the court. Remember to include space to run either side of the doubles court.

3. After measuring the court dimensions, the next step is to start digging. After doing research, it looks like you will have to dig between a foot and a foot + 1/2.

4. Once you have dug your ditch, it is imperative that it is flat, but even more importantly it is level. If you use a level to measure, this will help.

5. Concrete slabs are were you will start. It will ensure that once you pour concrete on the slabs, it will remain flat and level. Make sure they are compact together side by side.

6. This is where it gets tricky. I am unsure how much concrete to pour onto the slabs because of two things.

A) If you don't reinforce the concrete it will start to crack within a month or two.

B) Irrigation. When it rains or snows, the court surface (concrete if you're not using a proper surface) will be ruined. You need to make sure you find a way to allow water to run off.

7. This is where I am stuck. Once I pour the concrete, I am unsure as to whether to pour Tar to stick to it and then apply a surface finish.


This is where I am upto on my research.
 
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eliza

Guest
why clay? A hard court is probably cheaper.

Clayis much cheaper than hard. If you do it yourself you can lower the cost.
Whomever says 30-40K does not know construction guys. Of course they mark up 200%..................check the versa-court kit, and go to home depot.
 

Carolina Racquet

Professional
having a personal tennis court, bet that's a personal dream/goal for many of us on this board.

i would love to have a clay one for indoors, not outdoors. i hate it when weather or daylight gets in the way. roof would be like plastic though to let in sunlight.

anyone know how much that would cost? either way i'm assuming i need to be fairly rich to get enough land for this project... like the other poster, maybe in 15-20 years lol.

Autumn, I've looked into this and you need to consider a couple of things..

First, Indoor Clay (Har-Tru) courts are problematic because in an indoor environment, it tends to get very hard and you have condensation/mold/moisture issues without the ventilation you can only get outdoors. I spoke to an owner of an indoor facility that tried clay and he replaced it within a couple of years.

One solution to the clay is Har-Tru's ClayTech surface. It's actually a textured turf-like carpet and you dress the top with har-tru material. It plays similar to clay, you can slide like clay and it takes very little water to maintain. Downside is it's more $$. You're looking at around $70,000 per court.

For the structure, you nailed it to look at a tensioned-fabric structure. It does allow light through and construction costs are less than a traditional steel structure. Downside there is you need to replace the material every 15 - 20 years or so. Usually costs $12 -16 per square foot, so for a 60x 120 facility, you're looking at around $100,000 to $120,000.
 

autumn_leaf

Hall of Fame
Autumn, I've looked into this and you need to consider a couple of things..

First, Indoor Clay (Har-Tru) courts are problematic because in an indoor environment, it tends to get very hard and you have condensation/mold/moisture issues without the ventilation you can only get outdoors. I spoke to an owner of an indoor facility that tried clay and he replaced it within a couple of years.

One solution to the clay is Har-Tru's ClayTech surface. It's actually a textured turf-like carpet and you dress the top with har-tru material. It plays similar to clay, you can slide like clay and it takes very little water to maintain. Downside is it's more $$. You're looking at around $70,000 per court.

For the structure, you nailed it to look at a tensioned-fabric structure. It does allow light through and construction costs are less than a traditional steel structure. Downside there is you need to replace the material every 15 - 20 years or so. Usually costs $12 -16 per square foot, so for a 60x 120 facility, you're looking at around $100,000 to $120,000.

thank you for all the info. main reason i'm looking at clay is because my body is pretty rickety now (i'm only 21...yea i know, young, but trust me, rickety) and is probably only going to get worse in the future.

i was doing a little research now and read that clay needed to be watered and knew there would most likely be mold problems (currently in Hong Kong for vacation and family wants me to move here and it's really humid during most of the year).

i was probably expecting 40k-60k for construction so hearing 100k+ is disheartening. There was just a thread created about versacourts and i'm pretty interested in that as an alternative as long as it's better on the joints than hard courts. you seem to know a lot about this type of stuff so i'm wondering if you have any experience with them? i estimate on their basketball court prices (with the number / size of tiles) that it would run about 15k for a court.
 

Carolina Racquet

Professional
I have no experience with the versacourts for playing tennis... only played basketball on them inside (plastic tiles...right?)

You might want to consider the cushioned hard courts. Omni Court is an option and if you search them, you can see more about their construction process and the level of cushioning on their web site. Again, you're looking at a higher cost compared to asphalt hard courts but you won't have the clay-oriented issues indoors.
 

Carolina Racquet

Professional
At least reinforce the concrete with a rebar mat. If you don't the slab will crack within weeks.

Just to be specific, you shouldn't put down actual Concrete. Asphalt is the material that's applied over a base of crushed material. Much cheaper and much more give than Concrete.

Interesting story... my old girlfriend's father made an outdoor court in their backyard and it was GREAT! He was pretty "industrial" and did most of the work himself other than the laying of the concrete. Saved him a bunch of money. Ahh memories.
 

mikeler

Moderator
In my teenage years I helped build a few clay courts. Getting the net posts in was not much fun. Putting each nail in the lines with the sun beating on my neck was not so great either. Carrying huge bags of clay all day was a back breaker. Playing on a virgin clay court made it all worth it though.
 

PeterPanda

Semi-Pro
Just to be specific, you shouldn't put down actual Concrete. Asphalt is the material that's applied over a base of crushed material. Much cheaper and much more give than Concrete.

Interesting story... my old girlfriend's father made an outdoor court in their backyard and it was GREAT! He was pretty "industrial" and did most of the work himself other than the laying of the concrete. Saved him a bunch of money. Ahh memories.


How much does Asphalt cost.
 

Alistair23

New User
Spoke to my father today about this and he had different methods altogether.

I will be God willing hopefully be building a tennis court for the Summer, what surface is beyond me right now, but it looks as if it's either hard court or grass.

My father kicked my concrete idea out the window. Said I'd have to use some sort of clay, compact it and then use asphalt.

Back to the drawing board I guess.
 

beernutz

Hall of Fame
Rather than building your own courts, consider finding a nice neighborhood that has its own courts and moving there. We have two unlit but very nice and well-maintained courts in our neighborhood that are a 4 minute walk from my house even while pulling my ball machine. There is also a neighborhood pool next to the courts. Hardly anyone uses the courts and I think in over ten years living in the neighborhood there have only been about two times I went up there and wasn't able to use either court right away.

It it much easier to have someone else do your court maintenance and upkeep, not to mention not having to fork over the initial costs of construction. All the upkeep costs for the neighborhood are including in the yearly neighborhood dues of about $350 which also covers lawn care, insurance, etc.
 
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B A Y

Rookie
80KesselStreet_044.jpg


My court cost R140000 ($20000) Building is cheap here... Here it is after a massive hail storm!
 

B A Y

Rookie
Very nice! It looks like you spent extra for a retaining wall and fencing too.

No no... retaining wall is the edge of my property.. and I think I got shafted on the fencing because they seem a little lower then the fences at my tennis club..
 

B A Y

Rookie
Very nice! It looks like you spent extra for a retaining wall and fencing too.

What am I saying... Duh! The retaining wall was just part of the price.. its pretty cool... The precast wall is the edge of the property.. I am annoyed that I didn't make the guy build the court right up to the precast wall! then I would have had an extra meter and a half all around the court! Its kind of wasted space!
 

Fedace

Banned
I am currently building a new home, and in the process will be adding a hard court in the back yard.

The court construction itself is around 15k for the concrete and surface. The fencing and lighting is around another 15k. The concrete costs so much because you have to do a post tensioned slab, which adds some cost. Post tensioning is essentially like prestressing the concrete to prevent splits from opening up. I am sure the prices vary depending on location and bells and whistles though.

What about grass courts ? Wouldn't it be easy to just mow the lawn reallly close and do a chulrk line and put up the net on your own. Maybe only around $800 total.:)
 

PlayTheClay

New User
ClayTech Costs

Autumn, I've looked into this and you need to consider a couple of things..

First, Indoor Clay (Har-Tru) courts are problematic because in an indoor environment, it tends to get very hard and you have condensation/mold/moisture issues without the ventilation you can only get outdoors. I spoke to an owner of an indoor facility that tried clay and he replaced it within a couple of years.

One solution to the clay is Har-Tru's ClayTech surface. It's actually a textured turf-like carpet and you dress the top with har-tru material. It plays similar to clay, you can slide like clay and it takes very little water to maintain. Downside is it's more $$. You're looking at around $70,000 per court.

For the structure, you nailed it to look at a tensioned-fabric structure. It does allow light through and construction costs are less than a traditional steel structure. Downside there is you need to replace the material every 15 - 20 years or so. Usually costs $12 -16 per square foot, so for a 60x 120 facility, you're looking at around $100,000 to $120,000.


The $70k number for ClayTech is very rich. Prices depend on if the court is new or are we converting an existing court, the price of asphalt and concrete, etc. As General Manager of Har-Tru Sports, I can only speak to the clay court world with great certainty, but I can assure you that in most markets, Har-Tru Clay Courts should be priced very comparably, if not less expensive than hard courts.

If I can help with pricing and pointing you to a reputable builder (we do not build), please call me at 1-877-4-HAR-TRU and ask for Randy.

Good Luck!!!
 

alancalan

Rookie
Probably, a good question to ask would be, if you become your own general contractor, what would the cost of the materials be. You need a licensed electrician to run power for the lights, you need a plumber or a sprinkler guy to set up the watering if you do har-tru, you may have to clear away trees (here that is about $1,000 a tree) and you have to remove its roots, not just file it down.

Since we have someone here from Har-Tru, what would the cost of the Har Tru materials be and what has to go underneath it? As other have said there may be big rocks to remove and you need heavy equipment to do a good leveling job, I assume.

You also have to determine what the increase will be to your RE tax and school taxes because they are based upon the assessed valuation. I'd bet around here, a court would that would be valued at $40,000 would raise the taxes by $500 to $1,000 per year.

So, The basic materials costs and the costs of the electrician, the sprinkler person (preferably the one who knows your current sprinkler system so there are no conflicts for water demand and no holes made in the existing lines) and the taxes are where you have to start. You have to survey where you are going to put it this 120 x 60 court, decide how the grading will be.

The economy is awful and there should be people around looking to work for a pretty cheap wage.

However, as the general contractor, you will need to know what has to be done, as there will be nobody else to fall back on.

Alan
 

terry doran

New User
Cost of Artificial Grass layed over excisting cracked hard courts

I am looking for ball park figures per court to lay artifical grass over excisting cracked asphalt courts?
 

beernutz

Hall of Fame
I am looking for ball park figures per court to lay artifical grass over excisting cracked asphalt courts?

Did you just wake up from suspended animation? You have got to have set the record for most time between registering on the forum and making your first post! You are the super lurker!

I don't know about artificial grass but you might be interested in looking at this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRUwrgknSI0 which is about ClayTech, a hybrid of hard courts and clay courts. You convert a hard court into a ClayTech court.
 

Rozroz

G.O.A.T.
WOW!!
just went through this thread and couldn't believe it!
you bunch of rich people you!
building a personal court...
you have to be close to a millionaire to build and maintain your own court (+ the property itself).
lucky *******s!
 

mmk

Hall of Fame
WOW!!
just went through this thread and couldn't believe it!
you bunch of rich people you!
building a personal court...
you have to be close to a millionaire to build and maintain your own court (+ the property itself).
lucky *******s!

When I was in high school in Colorado in the 70s, I played against Cherry Creek, who were perennial state champs. CC was one of, if not the, richest public school districts in the country. The family of every guy on the CC team had their own court. I on the other hand had to figure out how to come up with enough money to pay for a racquet.
 

Staidhup

New User
Retired, old and gray, looking to build a HarTru clay court on our property in Reno. What would such a project cost to construct and maintain, the land is level.
 
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